


Home Is Where My Rink Is

by schneefink



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 03:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4206546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneefink/pseuds/schneefink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sid always knew that his parents wanted him to return to his home planet. He'd hoped it wouldn't be so soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Is Where My Rink Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Takes place during a fictional game near the end of the regular season 2014/25.  
> Thanks to snick for help, remaining mistakes are mine.

His parents' ship landed while the Penguins played the Devils, near the end of the second period. The crowd slowly became louder, shouts and screams rather than chanting as people got the news on their phones, and after the next icing the officials frantically conferred near the glass instead of continuing the game. 

Sid had known it was going to happen that week, but he'd hoped it wouldn't be during a game. He'd hoped he'd get a few more days of normality before he had to leave. Hell, he wasn't even on the ice to skate a final round.

"Please remain calm," came over the announcers.

"What's happening?" Paulie asked.

"Aliens, man! Aliens just landed in Washington!" a fan screamed behind the glass. 

Sid had thought he was prepared. He'd tried to get his affairs in order and to talk to his friends and family and to make his peace with the most likely outcome. But now that it was actually happening he found that he wasn't prepared at all.

"That's nuts," Perry said.

"No, apparently it really is aliens," Ags said, a hand near his earpiece, his face pale.

"Fuck," Downs said.

"What, like in Independence Day?" Flower asked. He'd skated over to the bench and looked skeptical and amused.

Sid snorted. As if. If his people wanted to conquer Earth – which they didn't – no Air Force or hacker would stand a chance.

The jumbotron switched to the news, a special broadcast live from Washington showing the ship and a few helicopters already hovering nearby. "So far communication attempts have been met with no reaction," the reporter said, and Sid frowned. More likely they'd already established communications, but the White House was keeping it secret. He bet they'd been pretty surprised when it turned out the alien ship had called the President over the phone. 

"You think they stop the game?" Geno asked, staring at the broadcast.

"Do you really think anyone wants to watch the game right now?" Downs asked.

Geno shrugged. "Sure. Schneider distracted, we score twenty goals." He grinned.

"Everyone to the locker room," Mike called, after a few short words with a linesman. "They're pausing the game for now."

"This is nuts," Kuni muttered.

"At least they're giving us time to call our families before they start shooting," Downs said pragmatically.

"They're not going to start shooting," Sid said, standing up. "That wouldn't make any sense."

"Aliens don't make any sense!" Perry said loudly. 

"Life doesn't make any sense," Horny called over his shoulder, disappearing into the tunnel.

"That's not the same," Perry complained. "Fucking aliens, man."

 

The team walked quickly to the locker room. "Nothing new," Duper reported, who stood near the door with his phone out. "There's still just the one ship. Phone networks are very slow right now, everyone's trying to call someone."

"Thank god it's a home game," Beau said. "Traffic is going to be crazy."

"Nah, everybody is driving home now, so the streets will be empty by the time they let us go," Scuds said optimistically.

Sid only listened with one ear to his teammates' speculations. Just a few days ago, when they'd discussed what to do, many of his siblings had agreed that humanity possibly finding out about the existence of aliens was not only overdue, but would also be at least a little bit funny. Right now it was hard to remember that.

There hadn't been a better way. He and his siblings had known for years that their parents wanted them to come home, but they hadn't thought that they'd actually come and get them. Not until the message last week. The siblings had decided to stay for as long as possible, banking on the small hope that their parents would change their minds. According to the plan, Roger should have already tried to contact them to try and find a compromise, any solution that meant they could stay, but they all knew it wasn't very likely. 

At least their parents hadn't just beamed them up without even a warning. They'd probably only bothered to contact the humans because their children had tried for years to convince them how interesting they were. 

"Hey." Someone elbowed him in the side. Sid blinked and looked up to see Suttsy watch him with a frown. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," he said. Someone had brought pizza into the room, and he took a big slice. They didn't have pizza back home, but they could probably invent it. One of his sisters was a cook.

Sid leaned back and watched his teammates. He might never see them again, and they didn't even know. The Crosbys and Taylor already knew of the situation, and he'd instructed them to give his friends a simplified explanation after he'd left, depending on how much the public found out about aliens. He'd thought about telling his team the basics now, so they didn't panic during whatever happened next, but he found he hated the idea of disturbing the last few minutes or hours he had with them. He'd give himself a few more minutes before he got up to check his phone, which he'd left in the dressing room. Ten.

"I bet they're green," Cole said to the other defensemen. 

"No way," Benny said, "way too cliché. And they're not grey either."

"How do you know?" Pouls said with the innocent look he often used when he was teasing. "Do you think they've been here before?"

"Every few years," said Olli, who sat next to him and looked out of place in his suit. "They probably come here every few years, pick up a few people for experiments, and then fly away again. But this time the cloak failed."

Sid grinned and tried to ignore that the back of his head ached, where he'd feel his family if he wasn't human right now. He must be imagining it. 

"Sid?" Flower asked. He was standing in front of him, frowning. 

"I'm good," Sid said.

"Are you…" Flower interrupted himself and walked back to his place. But he only took off his goalie pads and came back, looking determined. "You're coming with me." He grabbed Sid's arm and pulled.

"Whoa," Sid said and allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. "What's up?"

"Hey Flower, why you kidnap Sid?" Geno called.

"Important secret goalie-captain meeting," Flower called back. He walked quickly past Jen and a few others of the staff, and Sid could only shrug when they stared questioningly. Finally Flower stopped in an empty trainers' room and shut the door behind them.

"What is it?" Sid asked. He loved Flower, but he didn't feel like talking about team conflicts in the short time he had left.

"You know them?" Flower asked. 

"Who?"

"The aliens who just landed. Do you know them?"

"What," Sid said. "Why should I know them?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're an alien, and you're looking like something unpleasant is going to happen. What are they going to do?"

Sid stared at him. 'How do you know' would be a confirmation, but he had no idea what to say.

Flower rolled his eyes. "I spend my holidays on Alpha Centauri. You really thought I wouldn't see through your disguise? It is a pretty good one," he granted. "Now tell me what's happening."

Sid told him.

 

"That sucks," Flower summed up.

"Yeah," Sid said. 

"I hope Estelle won't run away to other planets when she's in her rebellious teenage phase," Flower said. "There are, what, several dozen of you? More? All of you scheming together, I bet. Estelle only gets one sibling."

"Flower," Sid said, exasperated. "This is not funny."

"It's a little bit funny," Flower said with a grin. "So you just ran away? No wonder your parents think you're too young and irresponsible to be left on your own."

"We did not just 'run away'," Sid protested. "We planned it for years."

"Without telling your parents about it."

"Well, yes. They'd have stopped us."

"And none of you want to return?"

"Some did, but they're already back home."

"Puberty, man," Flower said, shaking his head. "Teenagers are the worst."

"I'm over ninety in Earth years," Sid snapped.

"Aww, young ones are cute," Flower said with a grin. "No worries, let the older, wiser ones handle it."

"Flower," Sid growled. 

"Sorry," Flower said, still grinning. "I think-"

Someone tried to open the door and then knocked sharply. "Sid? Are you in there? Uh… you should probably come back."

"One minute," Flower called back. "Do you have any plans, any conditions?" he continued more quietly.

"Conditions?" Sid shook his head. "We never got that far."

"Okay." Flower opened the door. "Let's see what we can do."

Sid followed Flower back into the locker room, thoughts racing. Was Flower actually suggesting he could help? Even knowing that Flower was an alien, Sid couldn't think of what Flower might be able to do. He could talk to Sid's parents, Sid supposed – maybe they'd be more inclined to listen to him, if he was an adult from an advanced species and could confirm that Earth was safe and educational.

The atmosphere in the locker room was tense. Everyone was staring at the TV screen.

"We repeat: a source from the White House has just confirmed that the aliens are demanding that several people be handed over to them. It appears to be a list of specific people, but we don't have confirmation of that yet, or any of the names on that list."

"What the fuck," Cole said loudly. 

The guys immediately started speculating about alien experiments and hostages and anything else they could think of. Sid groaned internally. Of course there would be a fucking leak. 

"Sid?" someone asked. It was Jen, and she'd gone pale. She was holding out a phone. "There's a call for you. From Washington."

The room went suddenly quiet. Sid could feel them staring at him, but he didn't look. Next to him, Flower cursed quietly, then sat down at his stall and undressed. Sid took the phone.

"Yes?"

"Sidney Crosby?"

"Yes." 

"This is Tom Hartley, Homeworld Security. You're needed in Washington as soon as possible, in a matter of national security. The next flight from Pittsburgh goes at…"

"I won't need a flight," Sid interrupted. He was not going to fly to Washington just to make it easier for his parents to collect him. It was almost an insult, he thought, aware that Flower would probably think he was acting like a teenager again. He didn't care.

"Mr. Crosby-"

"I won't need a flight. Call me again in an hour if you still want me to come to Washington." He hung up and breathed deeply. The phone started ringing again, and he gave it back to Jen, who was looking at him with wide eyes. "Sorry," he said. "I just need to get my phone." He walked out of the locker room quickly, not looking at anyone. He could hear everyone start talking at the same time as soon as he left the room.

 

He had a few messages from friends and family on his phone, but he ignored them. He was looking for messages from his siblings, but there was only one from Roger, a group message sent ten minutes ago: "No change." 

As he watched, another appeared, this one by Janine: "Why Washington?!"

"Miscommunication," Roger sent back almost immediately. "You can stay where you are."

That was what Sid had assumed. A few hundred or thousand kilometers didn't really make a difference to his parents when it came to picking them up. Homeworld Security had probably panicked. 

He thought about telling his siblings about Flower, but decided not to just yet. Offering false hope would be cruel. He'd have to get more information from Flower first about what he was planning to do. Other than that, all he could do was wait.

Flower was still in the locker room. So were his teammates, and the staff. They'd ask a hundred questions, it would be awkward and he hated it already, but… it might be the last time he'd get to see them. He wouldn't tell them that – couldn't – but he could at least say goodbye.

Sid took a deep breath and walked back to the locker room. It wasn't far, and as soon as he paid attention he could hear the discussion inside.

"There's no way they're just going to hand him over like that, right?" Hoffer was asking. Sid wanted to roll his eyes. Of course they would. His parents could be very convincing.

He walked through the door and it became quiet immediately.

"Sid?" Duper asked, clearly concerned. "Everything alright?" 

"What's going on?" Downs demanded. "Is it the aliens? What do they want?" 

Out of the corner of his eye Sid saw that Flower was missing. For a moment he was confused, then he heard the shower run. That made it easier not to give anything away. But then, apparently Flower was also an alien and Sid hadn't realized for years, so Flower must have a better poker face than Sid knew.

"It's alright," Sid began and then paused. He hadn't had the time to think about what he would tell his teammates. "Yes, it's about the aliens," he said. They pretty much knew that already.

"What do they want with you?"

"Autograph?" Geno suggested with a smirk.

"I can't tell you much, to be honest with you," Sid said, falling back on his media phrases. They'd notice, of course. "I think I'm just going to have to wait and see."

"You said you're not going to need a flight to Washington," Adsy said, eyes narrowed. "You know something about what's going on, don't you?" 

"I can't really say anything," Sid repeated.

"That's not a no," Beau pointed out. 

Sid shrugged. 

"You'll come back, right?" Olli asked. "If you do have to go."

The others looked alarmed, as if they hadn't thought about the possibility. Damn it, Olli. 

"I should hope so," Sid said with a grin, trying to play it off as a joke. "Otherwise G will have to do more interviews, and we all know that would end badly." 

"Yes, very bad idea," Geno agreed, "Jen will beg you come back." He was still frowning.

"To be honest with you, I don't think there's anything to worry about." That was a lie, of course. Sid wasn't a good liar, his teammates had told him repeatedly after beating him at poker. But he was better than they knew: he'd managed to fool them into thinking he was human for years. Nobody had ever even speculated about his non-human heritage - not seriously, anyway. He was good at showing people what they wanted to see. Sid didn't want his teammates to worry, so he tried very hard to sound sincere. 

Some of them looked like they had more questions, but at that moment Mike and Ags walked into the room. Sid exhaled quietly in relief.

"They just announced that the game will be postponed," Mike said. "We'll find out the new date in the next few days, and what they're going to do about the goals already scored tonight. Good effort today. In case the world is still standing tomorrow and we haven't all been killed by aliens, practice tomorrow starts at ten thirty." 

There were murmurs of acknowledgement and the guys started to change. Flower walked out of the shower, grabbed his stuff and was the first one to the dressing room. Sid wondered if he should tell Mike about his possible absence the next day – did Mike even know about the phone call? Someone would certainly tell him. 

Sid tried not to look at anyone as he undressed, ignoring the questions thrown into the room. He showered quickly and tried to head toward the dressing room, but Duper caught his arm.

"Hey," he said, in a low voice. "You're going to be okay, right?"

"Sure," Sid wanted to say, but the word didn't want to come. Duper was looking at him like Sid was still his young roommate, like Duper would do anything he could to take care of him, and Sid felt his eyes sting. He turned and hugged Duper hard, hiding his face against Duper's shoulder. After a moment of surprise, Duper hugged him back.

"Team hug!" Suttsy called, and another guy threw his arms around both of them from the side. Sid turned his head and saw Kuni, who looked like he didn't know whether to smile or look worried. Then Suttsy joined from the other side, one guy came from behind, and soon Sid was surrounded by a mass of his teammates. 

They must look ridiculous in a pile like that, most of them half-naked and many still sweaty, and the injured guys wearing their suits. He could hear one or two complaints about not enough space from guys on the outside, and somewhere left of him Hoffer complained that someone was stepping on his toes. Geno reached over a few of the guys and patted Sid on the head, and Sid closed his eyes tightly.

"Alright, that's enough," Duper called a few seconds later. "You're all disgusting, go shower."

There was some grumbling, but the pile loosened and dissolved. Sid took a step back. 

"If we can do anything to help," Duper said quietly. "Anything. You know you just have to ask, right?"

Sid nodded. His throat felt tight. 

"Sid, do you need anything? If you have to travel, or something?" Dana asked.

Sid thought about asking to take a pair of skates and a few sticks with him, but that would have alarmed everyone. He could probably get someone to create them, on his home planet. A few of his siblings had even tried to play hockey before, infected by his enthusiasm, and maybe he could convince them to play with him. 

He'd probably not be able to play a proper hockey game until he could come back, when he was of age. In Earth years, that would be decades from now. He hadn't even been able to finish his last game, and they'd been leading 2-1. 

"No thanks, I'm good," he said lightly. Dana seemed unconvinced. He'd always had good instincts.

Sid dressed and left the arena as quickly as possible. Flower had already left, without even leaving a note, and Sid wondered if he should visit.

Flower, another alien. It still seemed crazy. Sid didn't even know which species, or which system he was from, or what he was doing on Earth. Midlife crisis, maybe? Most likely Vero and Estelle were also not human, but Sid couldn't be sure. He'd never suspected anything, even though Flower was one of his best friends.

Roger had sent a message a few minutes ago that just said, "Sorry."

"Don't be stupid, nothing you could do," Tatiana had replied. It wouldn't stop Roger from feeling responsible. Sid was embarrassingly glad that the last ditch effort to negotiate with their parents hadn't been on him. 

"They're going to pick us up in the next hour," Roger wrote. "Send a time and coordinates so it's not at the worst moment."

Sid sent a message and drove home. 

The drive passed both slower and faster than usual. Suddenly he stood in his kitchen and it was much too soon, he wasn't ready, he didn't have time to – to say goodbye properly, to call Taylor again, to ask Flower if he had a plan, to look at everything and everyone he was never going to see again – 

He could feel his parents' ship directly above him. Sid closed his eyes tightly as he was beamed up.

 

The ship looked strange to human eyes. The colors didn't seem quite right, shimmery and indistinct, and he could feel the background hum of the engines in his teeth. Sid took off his shoes, because even in this body it felt wrong not to touch the floor.

He was in one of the big assembly rooms. Many of his siblings were already here, all of them still in their human forms. They could Shift, but with their lack of practice it would take longer than usual. Even if it were easy, Sid wasn't ready to abandon his human body just yet. 

Every minute or two another one of his siblings appeared. They hadn't been together in one place like this in many years. It had always been too difficult to organize, so they met in small groups instead, and the meetings became less regular over the years. Now some of them were talking in low voices, or calling greetings across the room, but many more were just standing around and waiting. The uncertainty of what would happen next was almost audible.

Some of his siblings were on their phones, from the sound of it talking with their families. Sid didn't want to imagine what it must be like for those of them that had families of their own. He checked his own phone: he had a few more missed calls and some messages. None were from Flower or Vero. He tried to call Flower, but it went to voice mail, so he called Vero next.

"Hi Sid," she said, sounding busy. "It's because of the thing, right? Flower isn't home."

"Oh," Sid said, unsure how much he could say to her.

"We don't have an interstellar communications array at our house anymore, but we'll figure something out," she continued. "No guarantees, but we'll try to help. Good luck."

"Thanks." He felt a lot better. Flower might not be able to do anything, but it was more than he'd hoped for.

Tanger called, and Sid hesitated and then accepted. Tanger hadn't been at the rink that day, he was still recovering from his concussion.

"Hey Sid," Tanger said. He still sounded groggy, and Sid winced. On his home planet they could have healed the concussion, and Sid hated seeing Tanger go through it. He wondered if Flower had access to that technology, but he wanted to think that Flower would have helped him if he had.

"Duper told me about… stuff," Tanger said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sid said. "Don't worry about me." 

"You're at home?"

"Yes," Sid lied. There wasn't anywhere he could look and not see evidence that he was on a spaceship. 

"Take care," Tanger said. He sounded worried. Duper must have really freaked him out. "Stay safe, okay?"

"I will," Sid said. "You just focus on getting healthy." He didn't think there was a chance Tanger could come back this season, and he hoped everyone was smart enough not to rush him. After Sid disappeared they'd realize that they had almost no chance of winning the Cup this year, so there was no need to get him back immediately.

Sid tried not to think about the playoffs.

"Friend?" Marie asked after Sid put his phone away. Sid grimaced when the translation matrix kicked in. His human body wasn't used to it.

"Yeah," he said.

"Hard, isn't it? I'm glad I don't have kids," she said. "I have no idea what Dima and the others are planning to do."

"Do you think our parents understand the difference between our kind and human families?" Juan asked, turning toward them.

That was a good question. On their home planet one group of parents – often two or three, but sometimes up to seven – had dozens, often hundreds of kids. They cared about them all, but the bond to each individual was much less strong than for humans. Sid cared for his parents, but not the way Taylor cared for the Crosbys. It had taken him some time to figure that out when he first came to Earth.

There was a commotion at the other end of the hall. Roger had appeared, and several of their siblings approached him immediately, including all those with kids. It was only about eight of them – fortunate, Sid thought. He hung back, not wanting to intrude. 

"That's not fair!" one of his siblings exclaimed loudly. There were murmurs of agreement.

The front door opened, and one of their parents came into the hall. The room became quiet.

Sid felt a headache start in his temples. Their parents were in their natural form, and with human senses they looked strangely blurry and unsettling. He couldn't even understand everything they were saying. But he got the gist of it: their parents were very disappointed in them and thought they were too young and irresponsible to be allowed to stay. 

"I have children here," one of his siblings said, choked up.

There was a brief pause. They would remain in this room, their parent said. More information would be available later. It was strongly suggested that they Shift out of their human bodies. Soon these bodies would be inconvenient, when they returned to their home planet, where they belonged.

Then their parent left the room again, only a few minutes after they arrived.

"Assholes," someone hissed. Sid almost flinched. Such disrespect would be unacceptable on their home planet. 

None of them were starting to Shift out of their human bodies, and that was disrespectful as well. 

Some of them had started to cry. Sid hesitated and debated going to them, but others were closer and were already trying to offer comfort. 

"Fucking hell," Marie cursed. "I'm never going to have kids."

"I would have loved to have had kids one day," Sid said wistfully. Marie would hear the unspoken 'if circumstances were different. '

"You still can, one day," Juan offered. "Either you come back when we're old enough, or back home."

"Maybe," Sid said. He'd always imagined teaching his kids how to skate.

Food arrived through tubes in the walls. Some of it was fit for humans, the rest for their original forms. Sid looked at purple-brown vines and berries and remembered how he'd loved them when he'd been a kid. As a human they looked completely unappetizing.

"Are we already in transit?" Marie asked.

Sid flexed his toes and tried to listen through the floor, but he could only barely feel the ship in his current body. If they were still near Earth, there was still a chance, however small, that Flower could do… something, Sid didn't know. It was unrealistic to hope, but it was so hard not to. 

"Probably," Juan said. He sat down against the wall and closed his eyes. "Wake me when anything happens. I'm going to mourn my piano."

 

An hour later they still didn't know where they were. Their phones had stopped working at some point, but that could be the ship's shielding. At least that's what they were telling themselves. None of them had enough experience with the new ship models to know if that was true. 

Tim had started talking about the upcoming baseball season, getting into an argument about catchers with Indira, and Sid listened with one ear and threw in a Pirates reference every now and then. Marie had left their side of the room, saying that she didn't need to talk about things that had no relevance to their future anymore. Tim had protested that his team would still exist when he would come back in several years, even if the players were different. 

"Then how is it still the same team?" Marie had asked. Tim, Indira, and Sid had shared a look of commiseration over people who didn't understand sports. 

Sid was happy to talk about baseball with Tim if he wanted, and he hoped Tim would return the favor and talk about hockey with him later. Maybe they could find out how to bribe travelers to send them updates on the league results. Maybe Sid could convince his siblings on his home planet to become Penguins fans, and when he'd come back to Earth he could tell his old teammates about it. They'd all be retired, and some of them on different teams, but they'd still find it hilarious. Especially Geno. He'd brag about it too.

The door opened again right when Indira started to talk about pitchers. Everyone stood up, and it took Sid a few seconds to find a good angle to see. 

Two of their parents came in, and between them stood Flower.

Sid felt light-headed with relief. Flower looked serious, but with a smile in his eyes, like he did when he felt confident before big games. It was the best thing Sid had ever seen. 

"This is Honorable Maricanderen," one parent said. They must be talking out loud because of Flower, Sid realized. "They agreed to take custody of anyone who wishes to stay on Earth, until they are of age." They paused expectantly.

"Is there a contract?" Roger asked.

Their parent gestured and dozens of small holoprojectors flew into the room. "You will have time to deliberate," they said and left. 

As soon as the door closed Sid shoved his way through his siblings and hugged Flower hard. 

"Hi Sid," Flower said, returning the hug.

"You actually did it," Sid said, "you actually… wow." He laughed. They would be able to stay on Earth! It felt almost surreal.

"Couldn't just let you leave, could I?" Flower said. "And the team needs their captain."

The team. He would be able to play hockey again, with his team, in the playoffs. Sid had a huge smile on his face. 

"There are conditions," Roger said, sounding cautious.

Sid took a step back and looked around. All of his siblings were standing around them, and many were studying the holographic contract projection.

"Yes," Flower said. He took a step forward and looked around. "Hi. I'm Maricanderen, of the Fresi." His voice carried through the room, like when he cursed during practice.

Sid had heard of the Fresi, of course, but he'd never seen one. They were known as an old, technically advanced, but rather reclusive race. Suspicious but honorable, one trader had put it. 

"I'm willing to take full custody of you guys, temporarily until you are of age. The usual rules would apply, both your customs and interplanetary. Basically, don't be an asshole. Read the contract."

He didn't smile. Custody rules, Sid remembered, were strict. 

"Sid, you know him?" Marie asked.

"Yes," Sid said. "He's my teammate. He's a good guy. You can trust him." He's my goalie, he didn't say, because they probably wouldn't understand what it meant.

"So one of the rules is that we all have to cheer for your team?" Juan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, that would be cheating," Flower said with a grin. "But I'll add a list of teams you're not allowed to cheer for. I'll put it in the contract right now." He held out a hand and one of the holoprojectors landed in it. He handed it to Sid. "Read the contract. I know you trust me, but it's important."

Sid realized almost immediately why Flower wanted him to read it: the rules were even stricter than he remembered. Full custody in this case would give Flower many rights over them, up to and including killing them if he judged that they posed a danger to others. In return Flower would be liable if any of them egregiously misbehaved, or if they suffered in a way Flower could have prevented. That section referred to additional documents detailing Flower's capabilities and specific duties, but to Sid's surprise large parts of them were classified by the Fresi government. Their parents had signed off on it, at least. 

It was surprising that their parents would give Flower full custody. They must hold the Fresi in high respect.

"Why did you come to Earth?" he asked while skimming the section on illegal exports.

"Vero works there," Flower said. "I just came along."

"So it's only for the duration of her job?" Sid asked, suddenly worried.

"Job security is pretty good," Flower said with a reassuring shrug. "Besides, now I have to stay until you're old enough, right? So that's at least fifty-three more years."

"Fifty-four," Sid corrected. Flower shrugged again.

One of the holoprojectors flew toward Flower and hovered behind his head, then another. Those must be the signed contracts, Sid guessed. He finished reading his own and signed it. When he looked up there were already dozens of projectors behind Flower. Six or seven were waiting near the door, and some of Sid's siblings were standing next to them. 

As soon as the last contract was signed the door opened again, and the same two of their parents came in again. They said something to Flower in a language that was probably Fresi. Flower nodded respectfully.

"You are always welcome at home," their parents said. 

Sid wondered if he should wave. In his human body he couldn't give a proper response and it felt very awkward. 

"Thank you," Roger said formally. 

"Thank you," Sid echoed, and so did the rest of their siblings. Their parents gave the equivalent to a human nod and left. 

The siblings briefly said goodbye to those who chose to leave with their parents. The terms of the contract said that the siblings remaining on Earth could visit home at any time or send messages, so there was no need for long goodbyes. 

It would be nice to visit home, just for a short time. Sid loved Earth, but sometimes he missed his home, missed space, missed being in his natural form and not Shifted.

When those traveling home had left everyone remaining automatically turned to look at Flower.

"Okay," Flower said cheerfully. "You all signed the contract, I know your names, numbers, and addresses. Is there anything I need to know right now? I'll send you back and we can talk about details later. After the playoffs. Just don't do anything stupid."

Nobody spoke up. Sid looked around: it seemed almost like some of them were nervous to approach Flower. They didn't know him as a teammate, he reminded himself, only as the guy who'd shown up at the last minute and offered to take over custody. In their place he'd probably also be at least a little bit apprehensive.

"How can we contact you?" Juan asked eventually.

"You can keep the projectors, they'll reach me," Flower said. A wave of his hand made each projector return to the person who signed the contract.

"What about the Cassiopeia Treaty?" Marie asked. "The public knows about aliens now."

Flower shrugged. "Your parents followed the usual Treaty rules. The planet will be monitored, but hopefully no intervention will be necessary. Don't reveal yourself to anyone, though, that would make people nervous."

"Never?" Indira asked.

Flower frowned slightly. "Not yet. We'll talk about that later. Anything else?" When nobody said anything, he continued: "Great. Just tell the ship where you want to go back to, I think you know how it works."

There were ten teleport operating stations in the room, and some of Sid's siblings went to them immediately. A few others came to Flower to thank him personally.

"We need Sid for playoffs," Flower said with a grin. "Couldn't just let him leave, could I?"

"Maybe I'll come to a game one day," Tim said, and Sid laughed. He'd have to send Tim a jersey. One of Flower's, of course.

It wasn't long before Sid and Flower were the only two left in the room. "Seriously, thank you so much," Sid said again, heartfelt. Just a few hours ago he'd thought he'd have to leave Earth and all of his friends behind, and now he could stay. He still felt light, like he was glowing. 

"Couldn't just let you leave," Flower repeated. "Estelle would miss her favorite uncle."

Sid would have to buy Estelle the biggest plush penguin he could find.

He could get her a penguin made of spun crystal, he realized. He could tell Estelle about his favorite games as a child before he knew skates, those that involved rockets. He'd be able to talk to Flower about feeling homesick sometimes and Flower would know he wasn't talking about Canada. 

Maybe he'd even be able to tell his team one day.

"Hey," Flower said when Sid walked toward the teleport operating station. "You owe me dinner for all the bureaucracy shit I have to do now. You know, let my family know I adopted a bunch of teenagers." He grinned. "Kid."

Sid groaned. Now Flower was never going to let that go. 

 

"So, Sid," Suttsy greeted him at the rink the next morning. "C'mon, what happened yesterday?"

The room went quiet as everyone tried to listen in. Sid had sent his teammates a short message to let them know he was okay and would be staying in Pittsburgh the evening before, but he'd known they wouldn't be satisfied with that. 

"I rescued him, of course," Flower said. "Flew up to the spaceship and told the aliens we need him for the playoffs."

"Yeah, yeah, you big hero," Geno snorted. 

"That's exactly what happened," Sid said, keeping his voice even. "Sorry, I can't tell you more. It's against the contract conditions." It was completely true.

"You always pick the worst times for jokes," Perry complained.

"Are you saying you don't believe me?" Flower asked in an outraged voice. 

Well technically, Perry said, and then Tanger chimed in with a chirp about goalie powers. Cole said something about Mars and someone mentioned astrology. 

"I always knew you were an alien," Duper said quietly to Sid. Sid just watched his team and grinned.


End file.
